Readers' travel photography competition: 2017 – the winners

Readers' travel photography competition: 2017 – the winners

In 2017 readers entered thousands of images to our competition. Here are the top shots from each month. Scroll down to see the overall winner, whose prize is a fabulous wildlife holiday for two to Costa Rica with Exodus Travels

John Birch, January winner

Despite the temptation to seek shelter myself, I took this photo of gentoo penguins on Saunders Island in the Falklands as they struggled against the wind and the driving sand to return to their rookery.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: A clear winner. Initially I thought this was a study in slow shutter speed, but then saw that these gentoos are almost floating across the beach in a sandstorm. I would have cropped the whole foreground as it adds little, but that’s a minor criticism. I’ve been to this beach and never got close to this sort of masterpiece.

Nick Board, February winner

On Christmas Eve in Patagonia I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get close to the Perito Moreno glacier - and enjoy a glass of whisky with the purest ice on Earth. I liked the tiny figures, giving a sense of scale and the power of nature.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: As an almost spookily effective piece of composition, it is close to A+: the eye is led through the scree to the literal teeth of the image, the people almost, but not quite, superfluous. Both first and second place had me gazing at them for a while, the principal tenet of a blinding photograph.

Stanislav Shmelev, March winner

I took this image of a lady in traditional dress in Carthagena, Colombia, which was one of the strongest ports of the Spanish empire. By juxtaposing the old and new, the traditional dress with mobile phone, I try to convey the irony of Cartagena’s tourist boom.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: The blaze of colour from every angle, the boldness of the picture, taken from behind, which gives it so much more allure, and frankly a superb get-up. Did I mention the colours? Oh, and that looks suspiciously like a Nokia that she is holding.

Christopher Wilton-Steer, April winner

Marigold stringers in Veraval, Gujarat. Although fluorescent, the lighting lent this scene a painting-like quality. I love shooting shopfronts, especially in Indian towns, as the result often feels like a window on to another world.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: The composition is top-notch and not arrived at by accident. The relaxed demeanour spells an intimate encounter between photographer and subjects rather than an intrusive “grab” shot. But for me, the yellow of the produce matching the yellow bands of the flip-flops was the icing. Outstanding.

Sam Germaine-Scrivens, May winner

On Koh Muk, southern Thailand, I saw the boats in the breeze and thought it would look great from a different perspective so I sent my drone to hover above the water. It was late afternoon, so the lighting on cove and town was just right.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: Unfortunately, people have used drones injudiciously for many years now and the results are frequently uninspiring and lazy. Not this. This works on a dozen levels: the colour gradient, the composition and the symmetry most of all. To have taken this in landscape format would have been a crime.

Douglas Stewart, June winner

Sunset diving from the jetty at Glenelg beach, Adelaide, Australia.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: Not an unusual shot, but I have seldom seen it done better. The diver, although not performing a Daley-esque drop by any means, is in the perfect position. A moment earlier or later and it would not work. He balances the photograph, and the other swimmers and audience are in excellent positions. It is unprocessed and better for this. I can almost hear what will be a not inconsiderable splash. As Peter Kay would say: “Top bombing.”

Kelly Beckta, November winner

I took this at a cafe in Soho on a rainy London day. The people in the window and the man smoking outside all seemed to be different characters telling a different story.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: This is an intriguing and old-fashioned image: the moment of inhalation of the cigarette, the boy behind, the reflection of the tattoo studio and the kink in the glass to bring a spooky aspect into play. A lot in one image but it works: gritty, grimy and glorious.

Arvind Jayashankar, December winner

We hired a massive off-road vehicle to drive to one of the outlet glaciers of the Vatnajökull ice cap - which sits on top of numerous volcanoes. Just underneath the glacier, are these ice caves. Mind blown. This is planet Iceland.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: The ice has it. The centre of the image is a little hot and needs the highlights taking down a touch, but this is a superb travel shot. I want to be there in among this vivid blue planet.

John Birch, July winner and joint third overall

This dramatic opportunity at Sandsend in North Yorkshire was created by a combination of high tide and winds. It took patience to get this image and I was soaked by a wave hitting me from behind!
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: A photo like this is rarely achieved by accident – this photographer was right place, right time in spades. Just a remarkable shot, perfectly capturing drivers who ignored weather warnings.

Doug Scott, August winner and joint third overall

These Buddhist monks in Trongsa monastery, Bhutan, made a great composition – and all the better when I realised they were playing with their smartphones in secret.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN JUDGE:
Under their robes, two monks use their phones. This is the fact of it but the one on the right appears stupefied that the hole in the wall is not functioning. Whatever the viewer thinks, this is a brilliantly observed candid shot.

Coltrane Koh, October winner and 2017 runner-up

A gym in Varanasi, India, with basic fitness equipment. While I was busy shooting this young man with a fantastic physique, an older man walked into the frame. It’s a great juxtaposition.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE:The juxtaposition is worthy of a great master. This is a superb shot, brilliantly capturing an almost medieval gym. I just love this and hate myself for not making it the overall winner. Wow, it is so good, and apart from the incredible and gritty lighting, it is the humour that wins. Utterly superb, I almost forgive the budgie smugglers.

Eric Etchart, September and overall winner 2017

This man sitting near me on the Eurostar to Paris spent the journey looking out of the window. It was a sunny day and I managed to capture some great reflections.
PAUL GOLDSTEIN, JUDGE: I cannot believe I am giving the year’s award to a portrait. Not the most ambitious of the year, nor the most original, however it
is the best: detail, mood, muted colours and melancholic undertone. This study sees a man balefully reflecting on his life. The window is dirty but the photographer has captured enough of the reflection. This study wins, by a whisper.